1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bioparticle detectors and more particularly to separators for use with bioparticle detectors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Having breathable air is something that most people take for granted and little thought is often provided as to the contents of the air when entering a building or taking public transportation. In fact people take it for granted that the air delivered in a building, on an airplane or in a subway will be generally free from harmful airborne debris.
Recently, however, people have become aware that the air may be easily poisoned through the introduction of chemical or biological material into the air. The vulnerability of the air in controlled environments was exemplified when Anthrax was recently distributed through the mail resulting in the illness and death of several postal workers.
Presently, the military uses sophisticated chemical and biological detectors on the battlefield to provide early detection to the introduction of chemical and/or biological weapons into the battlefield environment. With the recent realization that these same weapons can be used by terrorists to cause harm to people in any public place, the focus and use of chemical and biological weapon detection devices has shifted away from the outdoor environments of the battlefield to enclosed metropolitan environments.
Devices for detecting harmful biological material in the air, biodetectors, are being developed in three broad classes of systems:
1. Systems that detect the organism or molecule by sensing the presence of a DNA sequence, protein or other antigen that is characteristic of the bioagent through its interaction with a test molecule.
2. Biological tissue-based systems, in which a bioagent or bio-toxin affects live mammalian cells resulting in a measurable response.
3. Chemical mass spectrometry systems that break the samples down into component molecular fragments and compares mass fragmentation patterns with those of bioagents and other molecules.
In the field, biodetectors are presently available in two forms, namely, devices that merely collect samples for analysis at a laboratory using one of the above methodologies and devices capable of collecting samples and testing the samples on-site for the presence of harmful biological material. In either case, it is desirable to retain samples of the biological material for later testing and study. One drawback to the biodetection process is that the sample collected may contain a small number of the biological organisms. The biological organisms may be identified by the presence and detection of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences. Even though only a small sample may actually be collected, samples of RNA and DNA may be copied to increase the sample size through a process known as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). One drawback to the PCR process is that the process is inhibited or will not work when iron is present in the sample. Thus, it is desirable to collect samples of biological material that are relatively free of iron. In current outdoor applications for biodetectors, the amount of iron or other inhibitors present in such environments has not been considered sufficient to effect the samples collected.
Traditionally, biodetectors were designed to be placed in outdoor battlefield environments. With the use of biodetectors in enclosed urban environments air circulation and unusual sources may increase the concentration of inhibitors in the air and, thus, the need exists for ways to adapt the biodetectors for indoor use in urban environments.